Missing the Pump

Today an hour or so after lunch, I watched my blood sugar on my dexcom climb and climb to an unexpected 288. ugh.  I was completely caught off guard since I had eaten the same lunch I have 2 or 3 times a week and I had gone for a long run last night. Yes, I am still recovering from a cold but didnt think it was still affecting my numbers to that extreme. Then I began to think- " wait...did I take my insulin shot before lunch?!?!"

 I pretty much have a routine down at work of stopping by the bathroom before we walk across to the cafeteria for lunch so that I can check my blood sugar and take my symlin and insulin. As I thought back to a few hours ago, I was pretty sure I had gone to the bathroom before lunch and could picture myself administering myself my shots. But then I began to wonder if maybe that "memory" was really from yesterday when I had done the same exact thing....in the same exact bathroom....in front of the same bathroom sink.  I know it may sound crazy but because shots are so second nature to me now and I usually take them in the same places and times everyday (my kitchen, work bathroom, etc) - it all can begin to run together. It is like you get so usto doing something and it becomes such a habit that you almost forget if you went through those motions that day.

As I sat there wondering if I really had any fast acting insulin in my body to cover my usual lunch of salad, berries, and jello- I missed one of the many benefits that comes with wearing an insulin pump. Had I been wearing a pump, I would have been able to scroll through the pump or handheld device to see exactly how much bolus insulin I had delivered at lunch. Additionally, it would have told me how many carbs and basal insulin I had consumed that day. I miss this feature of the pump tremendously, especially on days like this. I have been back on MDI (Multiple Daily Injections) for almost a year a half and there are certainly lots of things I enjoy about being "pump-free".  But today, as I was stuck with the choice of either riding out my high blood sugar and hoping the "lunch bolus" would kick in or correcting my high by taking more insulin and risking a bad low sugar...I wished I was once again a pumper.